


The Dreams That You Wish Will Come True

by eyeslikeonyx



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Getting Together, Kid Fic, M/M, POV Outsider, Wish Fulfillment, Wishbabies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 11:38:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17000919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eyeslikeonyx/pseuds/eyeslikeonyx
Summary: “So… a wishbaby, eh? That’s what the crisis was when you called?”“Patty, don’t make this more awkward than it already is.”Patrick raises his hands as a sign of surrender. Mitch looks like he hasn’t slept in days, and he’s pretty sure that’s spit-up in his greasy brunette hair. The three month old little girl is crying her poor eyes out in Mitch’s arms, and Mitch looks close to dropping dead.





	The Dreams That You Wish Will Come True

**Author's Note:**

> someone requested this a few months ago, and i'm just now getting around to posting it. oops.
> 
> unbeta'd. cross-posted from my [tumblr](https://eyeslikeonyx.tumblr.com).

“So… a wishbaby, eh? That’s what the crisis was when you called?”

“Patty, don’t make this more awkward than it already is.”

Patrick raises his hands as a sign of surrender. Mitch looks like he hasn’t slept in days, and he’s pretty sure that’s spit-up in his greasy brunette hair. The three month old little girl is crying her poor eyes out in Mitch’s arms, and Mitch looks close to dropping dead.

Patrick can sympathize: a baby is a lot of work, and it’s even harder to raise one on your own. He gets why Mitch has kept this a secret, though. A wishbaby is a rare thing to come across, and it’s even rarer for a guy to end up with their own wishbaby, especially a guy around Mitch’s age. It’s practically unheard of.

“I’m just trying to help you out here, kid,” Patrick assures his young teammate. “You look like hell.”

“Yeah, thanks, Patty.”

“I bet you feel worse than you look. I have four kids, and only one of them has just recently been potty trained. Believe me when I say I know at least part of how you’re feeling. Now let me hold her so you can take a shower and change clothes. You reek, kid.”

“She hasn’t been fed, though,” Mitch tries to protest, but Patrick is no fool. He can see the way Mitch’s shoulders sag with relief at the offer.

“I’ll feed her. Where’s the formula?”

“I actually have frozen breast milk that someone’s been donating to me thawing out in the fridge. Just run some hot water over a pack and put it in a bottle. There’s bottles next to the sink.”

Patrick nods and holds out his hands. Mitch is hesitant to let her go, but he does, anyway. He quickly turns and runs down the hall to his bathroom to take a shower, and Patty is left alone with the hungry infant.

Outside of his own four kids, she is easily one of the cutest babies Patrick’s ever seen. She doesn’t have much hair at all, but he can already tell it’s going to be dark. And those baby blue eyes are bright and distinct. She has Mitch’s nose and—Patrick later finds out when she’s happy and her hunger is sated—a very infectious smile that could melt even the coldest hearts. She’s the spitting image of her father, and Patrick loves her so much.

His love for her, though, is nothing compared to the love Mitch very clearly has for her.

By the time Mitch is out of the shower and has changed, Patty has fed the baby and changed her diaper as well. She’s asleep in her Leafs themed Dock-a-Tot on the floor by his feet. Mitch silently sits by his daughter on the floor, never taking his eyes off of her.

“How many ounces did she eat?” he asks.

“About five and some change.” Mitch nods and lets the baby take hold of his index finger in her sleep. ”What’s her name?“

”Remy. Remy Lucille Marner. I’ve always wanted to name my daughter Remy.“

At least Mitch didn’t name his kid after something related to hockey. Patrick was a little worried there.

”You going to tell the team about her before the season starts back up?”

Mitch shrugs.

“I want to, but with all the trade stuff coming up and Dubas coming in to take over for Lou, maybe it’s best to keep this quiet for as long as I can. I definitely don’t want the media to find out right now.”

“They won’t, as long as you don’t want them to. And you know that the PR team will do everything they can to hide her.”

“Toronto paparazzi is so nosy, though,” Mitch points out. “They’ll find out about her soon enough. Having a baby as a single parent is already going to get me torn apart by Toronto media. When everyone finds out Remy is a wishbaby, it’s game over.”

“Speaking from experience, kid, everyone loves babies, even heartless Toronto beat reporters.” Patrick smiles down at the infant. “She’s also a very cute baby. No one’s going to be mean to this sweet little thing. She’s adorable, Marns.”

Mitch smiles softly at the little bundle napping peacefully next to him.

“She’s the cutest, for sure.”

“How come you’ve hidden her from everyone?”

“I guess I just didn’t know how to tell people she was my daughter,” Mitch tells him honestly. “Mom said I could always tell people she’s my niece or my new baby cousin, but how would I explain why she’s with me all the time? And I wanted to spend some time with her where it was just me and her. As soon as the rest of the guys find out about her, I’ll have to kiss any quality time with her goodbye.”

“You know you can always tell them no. She’s your kid, after all. Not mine, not Mo’s, hell not even Auston’s kid. She’s yours.”

Mitch makes a face that almost seems guilty, and Patrick narrows his eyes contemplatively at the young man.

“What’s with the face, kid?” he asks gently. Mitch bites his lip as he stares at Remy, not daring to glance anywhere in Patrick’s direction.

“She’s, um—you know how wishbabies work, right?” Mitch asks.

“Yeah. A wishbaby is the product of someone’s desire to have a baby that is more powerful than anything. Everyone knows this.”

“So there’s nowhere that says that a wishbaby can have two different people’s DNA? Or at least something close to it?”

Now Patrick is confused.

“Mitch, what are you on about?”

“Take another look at Remy and tell me who she looks like.”

Patrick stares worriedly at Mitch before obeying and leaning down to look at the still sleeping baby. At first glance, she greatly favors Mitch. The only differences that Patrick can really make out are the way her sleeping smile doesn’t stretch out at far across her face as Mitch’s and the fact that her hair and skin complexion are darker than her father’s. Patrick tilts his head a little to the side to see what Mitch is talking about, and—

Oh Jesus.

Patty silently rears back into the cushions of the couch, shock taking over. From the front, it’s easy to tell that Remy belongs to Mitch. Her side profile of her face, though, gives away another face entirely.

“You haven’t told Auston?” Patrick whisper-yells at Mitch, who is rubbing harshly at his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“No,” Mitch admits in a small voice. Patrick pinches the bridge of his nose.

“You need to tell him.”

“I know. And I will.”

“I meant separately from the rest of the team.”

Mitch laughs nervously.

“Yeah, that’s a no-go.”

“Mitch—”

“What? How am I supposed to explain to my best friend that I’m in love with him and that I’m responsible for creating a wishbaby with his DNA without his consent?”

Patrick sighs.

“He’s going to find out sooner or later because that little girl may look mostly like you, but she still favors him, too.”

That’s when a light bulb suddenly goes off in Patrick’s head.

“Do you remember how else a wishbaby is made?” he asks. Mitch rolls his eyes.

“Yes. I did my homework on it as soon as Remy showed up.”

“Then what the hell makes you think that Auston didn’t also have something to do with this?”

Mitch’s cheeks turn a bright red.

“He’s not—”

“Remy looks like both you and Matty, and there is only one reason why that would happen.”

Mitch shakes his head disbelievingly.

“He can’t—he doesn’t _want_ me like that, Patty.” His voice wobbles as he speaks, and Patty sympathizes.

“Are you sure?” Patty counters. “Because that little girl’s existence says otherwise.”

Mitch’s face twists as a single tear finally falls. It lands on the plush blanket covering Remy’s legs, and Mitch sniffs loudly to stop himself from crying more.

“There’s no use in me getting my hopes up, Patty,” he laments softly, never taking his eyes off of Remy. Fatherhood looks good on Mitch, despite Patrick knowing how exhausted the young man is. “It wouldn’t be a good idea for me and Auston to be together. What if I get traded? Or what if Auston gets traded? We could jeopardize the team.”

Patrick levels Mitch with a look. Mitch makes a face.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Mitch quips. “It could happen.”

“Highly unlikely, but I understand where you’re getting at,” Patrick deadpans. “Look, there’s no way you or Auston will get traded. If Kyle can somehow keep Willy here, he’ll keep the two of you for the long haul.”

Patrick pauses and watches Remy breathe deeply as she sleeps. She stirs only a little before falling back asleep just as quickly. Patrick’s heart melts.

“He doesn’t feel the same way about me that I do about him,” Mitch whispers. “I only know he doesn’t because—because I already told him how I felt. And he shut me down almost immediately after I finished talking.”

Patrick blinks incredulously.

“When?”

“After we lost game seven in the playoffs.”

Oh. Well, that changes things. That also explains why Auston and Mitch have actively avoided each other in the team group chat and why they didn’t visit each other over the summer.

Patrick can understand Mitch’s hesitancy to tell Auston the truth. Auston and Mitch are probably not as close as they used to be, but they need to handle this like the adults that they unfortunately are. They really have to now because not only do their jobs depend on it, but so does Remy’s future.

“I still think Auston deserves to know,” Patrick finally says. “She’s his daughter, too.”

Mitch sighs sadly but doesn’t reply. He looks like he’s about to say something else when he gets a loud knock on the door. It’s loud enough that it startles Remy awake, and she begins to wail.

“Oh no,” Mitch groans to himself as he carefully picks Remy up and cuddles her close to his chest. “Don’t cry, sweetie. It’s okay. Shh, you’re okay.”

“I’ll get the door,” Patrick tells Mitch before running to the door to see who is knocking. He flings open the door and unexpectedly comes face to face with Auston, who raises an eyebrow and tries to look over Patrick’s shoulder to see where the loud crying is coming from. Patrick mentally curses.

“Patty?” Auston asks cautiously. “Whose baby is that crying?”

“Now isn’t a good time, Aus—”

“Patty!” Mitch calls frantically from inside the condo. “How do I get her to stop crying? She won’t take her pacifier!”

Patrick is starting to get a headache. He motions for Auston to hurry inside and closes the front door before jogging back into the living room. Mitch is trying to gently bounce Remy against his chest, but the baby is still wailing miserably into Mitch’s shoulder. Mitch looks like he’s on the verge of tears as well, and Patrick knows he needs to intervene somehow.

The older man holds out his hands for Remy, but Mitch doesn’t hand her over. He should have expected that, really; it took a lot of convincing to get Mitch to let him feed Remy.

“Just tell me what I need to do,” Mitch begs. Auston is frozen in place, watching Mitch and Remy with curious eyes. Patrick doesn’t want to know what’s possibly going through Auston’s head right now; instead, he focuses on Mitch and Remy, telling Mitch what to do to try and get Remy to stop crying and to go back to sleep.

It takes a few minutes, but Remy finally falls back asleep when Mitch begins to rock her against his chest in the rocking chair by the TV. The tension in Mitch’s face is gone for the most part, but he is careful not to jostle Remy too much.

“Thanks for helping, Patty,” Mitch whispers. Patrick smiles warmly at the new father rocking his daughter.

“Anytime, Mitchy,” he says. He turns his head to look at Auston, who hasn’t taken his eyes off of Mitch and Remy since the moment he stepped into the condo. Patrick sighs and looks at Mitch, whose smile has faded into a resigned frown.

“Look, kid,” Patrick begins to say, “I know you don’t want to, but—”

“I know. Can you give me and Auston a minute? You don’t have to leave, but I want to tell him myself.”

Patrick nods his head once and gently pats Mitch on the shoulder. He walks into Mitch’s room and closes the door most of the way behind him. He wants to call Christina to tell her about Mitch and Auston’s wishbaby daughter, but the urge to listen and hear the two younger men’s conversation is more important to him right now.

“So,” he hears Auston say, “is she yours?”

“Yeah,” Mitch replies quietly.

“What’s her name again?”

“Remy. Remy Lucille Marner.”

“Cute name. I like it.”

“Thanks.”

It’s quiet for a few minutes, and Patrick starts to get worried until Auston speaks again.

“Is she a wishbaby?”

Mitch stays silent.

“C’mon, kid,” Patty murmurs to himself, “don’t screw this up.”

He hears Mitch’s audible sigh.

“Yeah, she’s a wishbaby,” Mitch admits.

“Dude, why didn’t you tell me?” Auston demands.

“If it makes you feel any better, you and Patty are the only ones outside of my family that know. I’m going to tell the guys when training camp starts.”

“Is that when you were going to tell me?”

Another moment of silence.

“It’s nothing personal.”

“Jesus, Mitch—”

“Well, what else was I supposed to do? I’ve been trying to figure out how to be a parent for the last three months, so I haven’t really been worried about other people’s problems when I’ve had my own shit to deal with.”

“Is she the reason why you ignored me all summer?”

“It’s not like you called much, either.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Bullshit, Aus,” Mitch spits. “You could’ve called or come to visit, but you didn’t. Ever since we got back from Boston after getting kicked out of the playoffs, you haven’t spoken much to me at all. I tried to call you, at first, but you let all my calls go to voicemail. Then I didn’t hear from you all summer. At least I had a fucking good reason to not talk to anyone. What was your excuse?”

“You know how I get after the playoffs—”

“Now you’re just making up shit to cover your own ass. Cut the shit, Auston. Just admit that you don’t have feelings for me, and we can both move on with our lives.”

“You think I don’t have feelings for you?”

“You told me that there was no way I could be in love with you. You said that I was just upset because we lost. You said that to me in Boston, remember?”

“You caught me off-guard and didn’t even let me finish explaining anything to you. You ran off before I could tell you that I feel the same way.”

This is almost like watching one of Christina’s late night cable dramas.

“You—you what?” Mitch manages to wobble out.

“I really like you, too, Mitch,” Auston says. “I’m actually kind of in love with you, too. I should’ve just come right out and said it the first time.”

“But why didn’t you?”

“I was afraid. Shit, Mitch, I had been waiting for you to tell me that you liked me from the moment I realized I was in love with you. I kept telling myself that you would never want to be with someone like me, so I somehow convinced myself that you weren’t being serious when you told me that you liked me. I thought it was all some joke to you and that you didn’t really look at me like that.”

“Matts, I would _never_ joke about something like that with you.”

“I know that, but I psyched myself out over what you said. And when you didn’t talk to me at all this summer, I thought that you didn’t want to be friends anymore.”

“Dumbass, of course I wanna be friends with you. Shit, if I had it my way, we would be more than friends.”

“Wait, you—you still want to be with me?”

“Duh.”

Actually, no. This is way better than any cable drama Patrick has ever watched. And he’s seen some good ones.

“Besides,” Mitch continues, “Remy here needs both of her dads around. Being a single parent is a hard ass job. I don’t know how people do it.”

There’s a worryingly long pause.

“Auston?” Mitch’s voice sounds small and unsure, and Patrick is really hoping that he doesn’t have to beat Auston’s ass in the end of all this.

“She’s mine?” Auston asks quietly. He doesn’t sound angry or upset, which is a good sign.

“Yeah,” Mitch answers. “She’s yours—and mine. Patty told me that if a wishbaby has the DNA of two different people, that means that both of them have to feel very strongly about each other for a wishbaby to be born. I didn’t realize that she belonged to both of us until I happened to look at her one day, and I noticed that she looked a lot like you from the side. I was so scared that you were going to hate me because I thought that just me being in love with you would’ve triggered a wishbaby that shared our DNA. But then Patty said something about how that wasn’t possible, that two people had to be mutually in love to create a wishbaby. I didn’t want to believe it because I still thought that you weren’t in love with me.”

Patrick bites back a smug grin.

“Well,” Auston says moments later, “now that you know that I am in love with you, does this mean that you and I are going to be together and raise Remy? You know, be an actual family?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“Is it what _you_ want, Mitch?”

“What do you think?”

Patrick can hear someone standing up and walking across the hardwood floor of the condo and then stopping a few steps later.

“I think—I need to learn how to change diapers properly and how to adjust to not sleeping anymore.”

Mitch laughs quietly. If it wasn’t for Remy sleeping, Patrick knows that Mitch would be cackling right now.

“You’re in luck: she sleeps through the night, actually. She’s starting to adjust to not having to eat every three hours. It’s a lot of work, but she’s doing great.”

“She’s beautiful, Mitchy. She looks just like you.”

“Yeah, yeah. My nose, my eyes, yada yada. I’ve heard it all before.”

“Thank God she looks like you.”

“Hey, she looks like you, too.”

“How?”

A quiet pause.

“She has your smile and your hair color. And she’s starting to give me these unimpressed stares that look a lot like how you look at me when I’ve had one too many Redbulls.”

Auston chuckles. His laugh is followed by what sounds like a kiss. Patrick feels like he’s intruding on a pretty big moment now, but it would be rude to interrupt now by leaving. he’s content with staying for as long as he needs; that is, until things start getting really weird.

“You can come out now, Patty,” Mitch’s voice calls from the living room. Patrick slowly exits Mitch’s bedroom that he realizes now has also been converted into a nursery of sorts and walks into the living room to see Mitch still rocking Remy in the recliner while Auston kneels beside him on the floor. He and Mitch are both staring down at Remy, cooing softly at her as she continues to sleep. It’s the perfect family picture, and Patrick can’t help but to take a photo of the two young men with their daughter.

“Can you send me that when you get the chance?” Mitch asks.

“Same here,” Auston chimes in. Patrick grins.

“Of course, boys,” he replies. “I’m going to leave you guys to it. I think I’ve overstayed my welcome. I’ll see you boys soon.”

“Can we come over later this week?” Mitch asks. “We wanna introduce Remy to Christina and the boys.”

“Shit, I still have to tell my mom she’s an _abuela_ now.”

Auston and Mitch stare at each other in bewilderment before dissolving into fits of silent giggles. Patrick shakes his head fondly.

“Let me know when you guys plan on coming over,” he says to them. “Christina will be thrilled to meet Remy.”

“We’ll let you know,” Mitch promises. “Thanks for everything, Patty.”

Patrick nods once to both boys and watches them fawn over their baby girl one last time before turning to walk out the door.

“Anytime, boys. Anytime.”


End file.
